Chairman Capital Development Authority (CDA), Capt. (Retd) Anwar ul Haq lauding the role of business community in local economy has said that the body would take all possible measures to address their key issues to facilitate them in the business development. This was stated by him while talking to a delegation of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) led by its President Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari which visited the CDA Head Office here on Saturday. Anwar ul Haq said that efforts were underway to develop transparent and financially viable systems in CDA to better serve the citizens and the business community. He said that CDA was working on an automated parking system to address the parking issue in markets and the Islamabad Citizen Club would soon be made operational. He said that the CDA was ready to hand over public toilets and filtration plants to ICCI for their maintenance and operation on mutually agreed terms. He said that CDA was also ready to hand over its hospital to ICCI for maintenance and operation after its upgrade. He said that the CDA was considering outsourcing the water supply and waste management systems to make them hassle-free services for the citizens. The Chairman CDA said that the civic body was digitizing the land record to facilitate the business community and the citizens.

He also updated the business community about other important initiatives of CDA including the introduction of electric buses and, tree plantation drives to make Islamabad an environmentally friendly city. Speaking on the occasion, President ICCI Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari briefed the Chairman CDA about the key issues of the business community and stressed that the civic body should take urgent measures to address them. He said that ICCI was constructing water filtration plants in G series, which should be handed over to the Chamber for their maintenance and operations. The ICCI President said that CDA should set up flower markets in Marakaz, complete slaughter house project, operationalize the Citizens Club, and set up a wholesale poultry market in the federal capital. He urged that CDA should focus on the better development of all markets and replace all old sewerage lines in Islamabad with new ones to address sewerage issues. Senior Vice President ICCI, Faad Waheed briefed the Chairman CDA about the issues of the industrial sector and stressed their early redressal. The delegation included Zafar Bakhtawari former President ICCI and Secretary General UBG, Muhammad Ejaz Abbasi former President ICCI, Ajmal Baloch, Raja Hassan Akhtar, Zahid Qureshi, Khalid Chaudhry and others.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)